Read the Bible

Gedaliah Is Murdered

^1 (C1)In the seventh month ^(C2)Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal ^(F1)family and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^(C3)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. While they ^(C4)were eating bread together there in Mizpah,² Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and ^(C1)struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^(C2)put to death the one ^(C3)whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.³ Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴ Now it happened on the ^(F1)next day after the killing of Gedaliah, when no one knew about it,⁵ that eighty men ^(C1)came from ^(C2)Shechem, from ^(C3)Shiloh, and from ^(C4)Samaria with ^(C5)their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and ^(F1)their bodies ^(C6)gashed, having grain offerings and incense in their hands to bring to the ^(C7)house of the LORD.⁶ Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^(C1)weeping as he went; and as he met them, he said to them, "Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!"⁷ Yet it turned out that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him ^(C1)slaughtered them and cast them into the cistern.⁸ But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, "Do not put us to death; for we have ^(C1)stores of wheat, barley, oil and honey hidden in the field." So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their companions.

⁹ Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down ^(F1)because of Gedaliah, it was the ^(C1)one that King Asa had made on ^(C2)account of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain.¹⁰ Then Ishmael took captive all the ^(C1)remnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^(C2)king's daughters and all the people who were left in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and proceeded to cross over to the sons of ^(C3)Ammon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^(C1)commanders of the forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done.¹² So they took all the men and went to ^(C1)fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and they found him by the ^(C2)great ^(F1)pool that is in Gibeon.¹³ Now as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad.¹⁴ So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah.¹⁵ But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^(C1)escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon.¹⁶ Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^(C1)all the remnant of the people whom he had ^(F1)recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the men who were ^(F2)soldiers, the women, the ^(F3)children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.¹⁷ And they went and stayed in ^(F1)(C1)Geruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^(C2)proceed into Egypt¹⁸ because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^(C1)afraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^(C2)the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.